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HBO Death Row Series Casts Laura Dern In Lead Role

A new project being developed at HBO centered around death row inmates has found its lead actress in Laura Dern. Written and directed by Alex Gibney (Steve Jobs: The Man In The Machine), the series is currently untitled and in very early stages of development.

Dern will star as a court-appointed psychiatrist who must navigate the twisted psyches of death row inmates to fully determine whether or not each criminal is sane enough to be killed by the state.

The untitled series is a return to HBO for both Gibney and Dern. Gibney directed the Emmy-winning documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief last year, while Dern’s short-lived but much-loved Enlightened ran on the network for two seasons.

“I am thrilled to be embarking on this dramatic journey with Laura and Jayme,” Gibney said. “It’s an opportunity to shine a light on a dark and brutal corner of our justice system with a series of illuminating conversations that explore the best and worst of what it means to be human.”

Besides the death row series, Dern will also return to HBO in a role on the limited series Big Little Lies, an adaptation of the book of the same name by Liane Moriarty.